Re: your mail
Party politics generates lame endorsements with lame reasons and lame motives. We know it is political suicide for any elected or elected-wannabe DFLer not to endorse whoever the power-brokers at the top foist upon them. Kow-tow or find the party machinery arrayed against you next election. So it has to be hard to know what the real opinion of elected party people is. Everyone knows what they MUST say. After a while it hardly matters what their own private opinion is... --David Shove On Tue, 31 Oct 2000, timothy connolly wrote: mr. oprfield speaks of keeping the forum open and yet in his editorial on sunday he in effect called for cloture when he stated that the nader people had made their point and everyone was listening but that now it was time to close ranks around gore. you cannot have it both ways mr. orfield. i agree with our moderator when he suggests we cool our jets. will november 7th never get here! tim connolly ward 7 __ Do You Yahoo!? Yahoo! Messenger - Talk while you surf! It's FREE. http://im.yahoo.com/
Re: Al Gore and urban policies
On Tue, 31 Oct 2000, John Rocker wrote: But, the biggest positive = impact Nader can have this election is to get out the vote for Gore. Who = knows, maybe Gore will appoint him head of the EPA. Maybe pigs will fly. --David Shove
Re: Al Gore and urban policies
Read Utne Reader for the Cabinet selection - a really great list - that would change the planet, no matter who is President. AY First they ignore you, Then they laugh at you, Then they fight you, And then we win! -Mohandas Gandhi
RE: Reopened S. Nicollet Ave., with housing?
I didn't see anything really inspiring, just a lot of lines and squares on paper. Russ Peterson Ward R U S S E L L P E T E R S O N D E S I G N "You can only fly if you stretch your wings." Russell W. Peterson, RA, CID Founder 3857 23rd Avenue South Minneapolis, MN 55407 612-724-2331 [EMAIL PROTECTED] -Original Message- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] [mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED]]On Behalf Of List Manager Sent: Tuesday, October 31, 2000 10:16 PM To: Multiple recipients of list Subject: Reopened S. Nicollet Ave., with housing? Will the Old Urbanist blockage of Nicollet at Lake St. be unblocked by New Urbanism? The first trial balloons float -- affordable housing on the Greenway, a relocated Kmart off to one side: Check out the details at: http://www2.startribune.com/stOnLine/cgi-bin/article?thisStory=82840023 Comments? David Brauer List manager, Mpls-issues
Re: RE: Reopened S. Nicollet Ave., with housing?
Russ sez: I didn't see anything really inspiring, just a lot of lines and squares on paper. C'mon, man, the glass isn't always half-empty! grin This is an early idea! In spite of the bewildering Star Tribune graphic (designers: when you use that many colors, make 'em more distinct, or also use patterns!), this generally looks like the right idea for the space. Retail on Lake Street, housing facing the Greenway, delivery/parking junk in the middle. Theoretically, this showcases how the Greenway can enhance commercial design a couple of blocks away. The devil, of course, is in the details, but I hope something like this happens. Even though I live south of there close to Nicollet and know the traffic will explode (we factored this in when we purchased here six years ago, so no problem). One thing to keep your eye on is how transit is integrated in the area. There's supposed to be buses or LRT on the greenway, but also a major "transfer station" for bus passengers at Lake and 35W. What's happened is a lot of these developments have overwhelmed the planning, but it makes sense to me to have one major highway collection/transfer point that accomodates both Greenway transit users and Lake St. riders. (Right now, the Greenway users couldn't transer to the highway north-south route without walking two blocks to the Lake St. transfer station.) The problem is, as the transit planning has lurched forward, some of the newer ideas like Greenway transit, for example haven't been integrated into an older master plan. By the way, is the Sherman involved formerly of Sherman-Boosalis? David Brauer King Field - Ward 10
Re: your mail
Perhaps Mr. Shove could enlighten us as to who the "power-brokers at the top" are and how they "foist" their choices upon us. I've been involved in the DFL party for a few years and I've never met an honest to God "power-broker" and I have yet to be "foisted" upon. Apparently, I have years of missed kow-towing opportunities to make up for! Seriously, though, the parties are composed of nothing more than people who show up to be involved. The parties' caucus/convention/endorsement process is open to anyone who takes the time to attend. (The amount of time it takes to be involved is a fair criticism and an issue on which all parties should keep working.) If a candidate can muster 60% support among those who attend, they get the party endorsement. At least in the DFL party where caucus attendees tend to be extremely indpendently minded, "power-brokers," if there are such folks, have very little sway. I suspect that what Mr. Shove is really against is the fact that the parties tend to want their members, especially those who benefit from endorsement, to support candidates who are endorsed in this fair and open process. I have been on both the winning and losing sides of endorsement contests. In either case, I did not fault party leaders who did their job and tried to rally party members to support endorsed candidates. I'm not sure how that results in "lame endorsements" for "lame reasons" or "lame motives." If there is a better process for endorsing candidates, I'm happy to learn more about it. Scott Benson 5th Congressional District DFL Chair In a message dated 11/1/00 2:53:52 AM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Party politics generates lame endorsements with lame reasons and lame motives. We know it is political suicide for any elected or elected-wannabe DFLer not to endorse whoever the power-brokers at the top foist upon them. Kow-tow or find the party machinery arrayed against you next election. So it has to be hard to know what the real opinion of elected party people is. Everyone knows what they MUST say. After a while it hardly matters what their own private opinion is... --David Shove
GMCVA response to list discussions
Forwarded on behalf of Karen Gruenberg of the Greater Mpls Convention and Visitors Assn: I am writing to clarify the recent article published in the Star Tribune regarding the presentation made to the City Council by the Greater Minneapolis Convention Visitors Association for a three year strategic plan. The article reported incomplete information. The GMCVA presented a first time - three year plan to the City Council to explain the strategic plan that will generate more visitors and conventioneers to Minneapolis in the coming years, which in effect results in more general fund revenue to the city. The purpose, of course, is to create new sources of revenue (through taxes charged to visitors outside the Minnesota market) to create more additional financial sources for Minneapolis improvements. Last year convention attendees, alone, spent $450 million in the market creating $12.8 million in unencumbered general fund revenue for the city. These are new dollars, dollars that would not have been brought to this city if we did not book conventions for the Minneapolis Convention Center. This is the first time a long-range plan has been presented. The Star Tribune article mentioned only two items on the plan, one which is a different initiative then the norm of how we have done business and the second an idea. A small portion of the of $1.5 million dollars would be set aside to create a fund to help offset the cost for conventions that fill slow periods for the hotel industry. The impact of securing these conventions directly impacts the pockets of all Minneapolis businesses, not just hotels and will generate million of dollars in spending. If we had been able to help offset an operational cost of the Barbershop Convention, an additional $13.7 million would have landed in Minneapolis during historically slow time, business that would have filled restaurants, hotel rooms and generated retail traffic - all elements of our city that makes it remain a prime city in which to work and live. Regarding the issue of parolees entering the hospitality work force. With such a low unemployment rate in the Twin Cities the GMCVA announced that it will EVALUATE all options to assist in finding employees that will help us serve the visitor. One such program suggested was to explore opportunities for using people just entering the work force - parolees. What was missing in the article were other options that we will be evaluating such as daycare options to attract parents to work in the hospitality industry, the expansion of training programs called Pathways and the Minneapolis Academy of Travel and Tourism or the exploration of union training programs. We built the convention center and now are expanding it for the purpose - generating more traffic to Minneapolis resulting in more monies to the marketplace including taxes brought in from outside Minnesota which allows our city more dollars to pay for improvements in Minneapolis. The additional dollars are placed in the General Fund which reduces pressure on property tax. The additional 1% we are seeking comes from the tax on hotels which goes directly into the General Fund, where ALL our funds come from and are dedicated revenues for the visitor industry. We need to tell people about our product, that is what the bulk of the increase will be spent on. Unfortunately that was not mentioned in the article. Thank you! Karen Gruenberg Greater Mpls Convention and Visitors Association VISIT MINNEAPOLIS - THE COOLEST PLACE ON EARTH --forwarded by David Brauer, List manager, Mpls-issues
The Library Referendum
I'd like to address a couple of the issues raised by the anonymous library letter. Disgruntled employees are a reality in most organizations, and certainly not uncommon in an organization as large as our library system (with about 400 staff members). And tensions are always highest when contracts are being negotiated. Personally, I don't blame someone for wanting to remain anonymous, but I do object when he or she claims to be speaking for the staff as a whole. I work in, but not for, the library, and I have never heard a single library staff member say they thought this building was adequate for the needs of our community. There is nothing scientific to it, but in my dealing with staff, I've found that people recognize the physical shortcomings of our libraries and are very excited about the prospect of physically improving them. This view is shared by the DFL, GOP, League of Women Voters, Star Tribune, Southwest Journal, The Northeaster, and many labor and neighborhood associations that have endorsed the referendum. The anonymous author raises questions about re-building the library on the current site. It's always easy to rattle off alternatives locations, harder to make them work. Take, for example, the Nicollet Hotel block. Because it is smaller, the new library would have to be taller. And, as a building increases in size its operating costs go up exponentially. So we have a choice: a two and a half year period with an interim library OR a building that is permanently more expensive to operate. The implementation committee (comprised of city, library, business and citizens representatives) looked at 20+ sites before agreeing that the best location for the new library would be the current site. They made this decision knowing it would require interim space, but agreeing that it was in the best long-term interests of the city. They made their decision after examining a number of criteria, including operating costs, access to public transit (including future light rail lines), and access, via skyways, to the downtown core. One final note: currently the Central Library attracts about 800,000 visitors a year. It's an impressive number, but actually fairly modest when you compare it to other comparable cities. Nationwide, when cities have built new central libraries, they have typically seen use double or even triple. Imagine the value added to our downtown - both for businesses and for those who enjoy vibrant city centers - if a new library attracts an additional 800,000 to 1,000,000 visitors per year. Colin Hamilton Executive Director Friends of the Minneapolis Public Library 612/630-6172 612/630-6180 (fax) [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Nicollet Avenue
The subject of re-opening Nicollet has been on the table for as long as I have lived in Whittier (1991). It was addressed in the Whittier NRP plan, but, with no funding dedicated in the plan or by the city at that time, it became only a dream. The discussion has both dropped off and livened up during that time, but, I have never seen a real live "let's do this" plan until now. And yes, perhaps it lacks detail, design elements, square footage and all the other architectural language, but at least there is finally a plan out there. And if K-mart is at the discussion table along with the guy who owns the land underneath K-Mart, then more power to Sherman, Lisa McDonald, Jim Niland, Bruce Rasmussen, Dean Devolis and whoever else is driving this bus. Re-opening Nicollet is equally important to both Whittier and the Lyndale neighborhoods along with a string of other neighborhood both North and South of it. Quite frankly, I am excited about the possibilities of what could ultimately happen there and say it's about time. The fact that private developers are carrying the water on this is even better. Hip Hip Hoorah The TIF issue is a whole other e-mail and a whole other discussion. I will limit my thoughts at this point to the thought of an open street and Lake and Nicollet. Barb Lickness Whittier Ward 6 __ Do You Yahoo!? From homework help to love advice, Yahoo! Experts has your answer. http://experts.yahoo.com/
Re: Flyers and Kiosks
[EMAIL PROTECTED] wrote: And if more such kiosks were erected, whose responsibility would it be to keep them cleaned up? While I was attending college, I made it a point to remove, from bulletin boards, any posters and flyers that had expired. This kept the bulletin boards relatively free of garbage and at the same time, made the boards more usable. Maybe something similar could be done for the kiosks. A local group could be responsible for removing posters for past events. And if the kiosk is only for announcing events, the group could remove any poster that was not an annoucement of an event or events. Thus, an ad for JoAnn's Herbal Hair Cream would be removed because it was not an announcement of an event. Of course, this would not work if there were no posting restrictions for the kiosks. Scott McGerik Hawthorne Ward 3 Minneapolis http://www.visi.com/~scottlm/ [EMAIL PROTECTED]
where's a good watchdog when we need one......
walking along marquette between 7th and 8th streets on the east side, i happened to notice library referendum posters(vote yes! for books) attached to streetlight standards. paid for by friends of the library, carol becker, treasurer. go get her, lisa. sorry! couldn't resist. i am no trappist monk. i sure hope somebody else in this city reads the pipress and got that joke. thanks to brian lambert for that reference to ralph! Tim connolly ward7 __ Do You Yahoo!? From homework help to love advice, Yahoo! Experts has your answer. http://experts.yahoo.com/
New Developments from the MCDA
Please click on the link below to read the latest issue of New Developments, a newsletter published by the Minneapolis Communtiy Development Agency. http://www.mcda.org/Content/Org/Newdevelopments/issue110100.htm Alicia Scott Minneapolis Community Development Agency Public Information Crown Roller Mill, Suite 200 Mpls., MN 55401-2534 (612) 673-5015 - phone (612) 673-5293 - fax mailto:[EMAIL PROTECTED] http://www.mcda.org
Library Referendum
We would like to respond to the two questions raised in Rosalind Nelson's posting on behalf of an anonymous Minneapolis Public Library staff member. 1. Interim operations The plans for an interim Central Library have not yet been finalized, but we fully intend to make the collection highly accessible in a convenient downtown location. One site that may be a possible interim location is large enough to provide open shelves for all the materials currently on the open shelves, plus additional books that are currently in closed stacks (all fiction, and all nonfiction from 1968 on). We are investigating options for off-site storage for the remainder of the collection; our goal is to make as much of that material as possible accessible on request, perhaps with a 24- or 48-hour turnaround. While moving offsite to a temporary location will present some challenges, we do plan to maintain access to all of the services and collections we currently provide. 2. Site selection Colin Hamilton addressed this issue very well in his post earlier today. To reiterate, the Central Library Implementation Committee (made up of citizens, Council members, Library Board members, and the Mayor) spent many months reviewing 21 sites in downtown Minneapolis and testing them against the site criteria for a new Library. The Nicollet Hotel block did not meet the criteria because it was too small. Building on that site would require the Library to be spread over more floors, reducing ease of use and staff efficiency. So, the new Library will be rebuilt on the current site, and the Nicollet Hotel site will be part of a mixed-use development, with parking, retail, public space, and parking, all connected by skyway to the Library. Jan Feye-Stukas, Associate Director Minneapolis Public Library 300 Nicollet Mall Minneapolis, MN 55408 PH: 612-630-6208 FAX: 612-630-6210
Re: where's a good watchdog when we need one......
We had an event to publicize the need to replace the downtown library. We hired a company to put up some posters on the event. Unbeknown to us, they posted some of them in illegal locations. The next morning, I had a call from a police officer (8:00 am, by the way - great work by the MPD) letting me know that they had done this. We called the company and they were to have taken all of them down. If I can get the location, I will make sure that it comes down as they may have missed one or two. Carol Becker Longfellow. - Original Message - From: timothy connolly [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 1:51 PM Subject: where's a good watchdog when we need one.. walking along marquette between 7th and 8th streets on the east side, i happened to notice library referendum posters(vote yes! for books) attached to streetlight standards. paid for by friends of the library, carol becker, treasurer. go get her, lisa. sorry! couldn't resist. i am no trappist monk. i sure hope somebody else in this city reads the pipress and got that joke. thanks to brian lambert for that reference to ralph! Tim connolly ward7 __ Do You Yahoo!? From homework help to love advice, Yahoo! Experts has your answer. http://experts.yahoo.com/
Meadowbrook- The Development...
At face value, I concur with Mike Hohmann that this seems like an opportunity, but it would require a bit of maneuvering to make it happen, and probably would not end up as well as we might hope. First, the MPRB owns Meadowbrook, not the City. The MPRB is a separate legal entity both corporate and politic. I suspect that Meadowbrook, while not hugely profitable, does have one enormous benefit to the MPRB...its revenues go to the Park Board Enterprise Fund...sort of the MPRB equivalent of the City's Parking Fund. Enterprise Funds of the MPRB are not tied to general revenues/obligations, and are therefore a fund that allows the MPRB unencumbered development of facilities without having to reduce or adjust the general revenues or levies of the MPRB. If the MPRB were to sell Meadowbrook, the lump sum proceeds would/should go to the Enterprise Fund, but the future stream of cash flow would be lost. The MPRB is not likely to want to have an enormous lump of cash surplus on its books in the enterprise fund, when they are busy making the case that they need additional funds from the city general levy, Local Government Aid, HACA, LCMR, or the Metropolitan Regional Parks Commission to maintain or expand recreation facilities, develop new athletic facilities or maintain facilities of regional importance. Six years ago, the City of Minneapolis sold a huge tract of land in Plymouth that was the former jailhouse "farm." We SHOULD have developed low and moderate income housing on it, rather than sell it for commercial development, but Plymouth threatened to down zone the land, and as usual, we did not press our advantage. Would have been neat to do low or moderate income housing in a community like Plymouth, which has limited its "affordable" housing to projects for seniors only. Today, if the City of Minneapolis got its hands on Meadowbrook, away from the MPRB, I am certain that affordable housing requirements would be dictated - unfortunately, St. Louis Park is not a community that needs additional affordable housing, and has been singularly stalwart about doing its fair share already. -- Steve Minn Principal Lupe Development Partners, LLC (612) 868-9112 (direct) (952) 925-3080 (fax) (952) 925-9505 (home) [EMAIL PROTECTED] -- From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Meadowbrook- was Re: City Budget, Nov. 2000 Date: Wed, Nov 1, 2000, 5:28 PM I don't care who it is sold to. It is located in St. Louis Park and borders Hopkins and possibly Edina. I doubt any municipality receives any tax revenue from the property and I'd be surprised if it is even self-sustaining (let alone profitable) from operations. Seems that public parkland, a parkway along Minnehaha Creek, and some mixed-use affordable/market-rate housing would be an attractive, revenue-producing alternative for St. Louis Park? And, I'm sure the reduced fertilizer runnoff into the Creek will result in a lower BOD and improved water quality. Such potential projects would offer a nice balance to all the development on the east side of Hwy 100 along Excelsior Blvd., while adding to St. Louis Parks tax base! What is the market value of the Meadowbrook acreage? You don't know until you put it on the market-- and that doesn't mean making a nice sweet-heart arrangement to transfer the property to St. Louis Park at sub-standard value, at a loss to Mpls. taxpayers. M. Hohmann 13th Ward
Re: Meadowbrook- The Development...
In a message dated 11/1/2000 6:26:25 PM Central Standard Time, [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: First, the MPRB owns Meadowbrook, not the City. The MPRB is a separate legal entity both corporate and politic. I suspect that Meadowbrook, while not hugely profitable, does have one enormous benefit to the MPRB...its revenues go to the Park Board Enterprise Fund...sort of the MPRB equivalent of the City's Parking Fund. Enterprise Funds of the MPRB are not tied to general revenues/obligations, and are therefore a fund that allows the MPRB unencumbered development of facilities without having to reduce or adjust the general revenues or levies of the MPRB... If the MPRB were to sell Meadowbrook, the lump sum proceeds would/should go to the Enterprise Fund, but the future stream of cash flow would be lost. The MPRB is not likely to want to have an enormous lump of cash surplus on its books in the enterprise fund, when they are busy making the case that they need additional funds from the city general levy, Local Government Aid... Sounds like good reason for reducing MPRB funding from Mpls. General Fund... if they have the asset (Meadowbrook), let them earn a satisfactory return on it to support their other functions-- or sell it!. Whatever the corporate/legal entity details, the bottom line is Mpls. taxpayers own Meadowbrook! M. Hohmann 13th Ward
Re: Flyers and Kiosks
This is a multi-part message in MIME format. --017E5E3FD7D28ABB099967DD Content-Type: text/plain; charset=us-ascii Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit as a member of the lyn lake business association, i'd like to point out to valerie that perhaps she should reconsider her definition of "important community meetings". garage sales, rock concerts, and new age spiritual meetings are, dare i say, as important to some people in our community as NRP meetings. i agree that it is hard to clean kiosks up--but they are manageable. as far as graffiti goes, if the kiosk is covered with flyers and they are graffitied over, they can just be torn down. in my experience with indoor posting areas, which are probably less likely to have graffiti on them, they are rather self-cleaning. people putting up new posters and tear down the old. --017E5E3FD7D28ABB099967DD Content-Type: text/x-vcard; charset=us-ascii; name="kimbowl.vcf" Content-Transfer-Encoding: 7bit Content-Description: Card for Kim Bartmann Content-Disposition: attachment; filename="kimbowl.vcf" begin:vcard n:bartmann;kim x-mozilla-html:FALSE url:[EMAIL PROTECTED] org:Siren Media adr:;;126 N. 3rd. St. #511;MPLS;MN;55401; version:2.1 email;internet:[EMAIL PROTECTED] title:Publisher note:"He has half the deed done, who has made a beginning" -Horace x-mozilla-cpt:;3 fn:kim bartmann end:vcard --017E5E3FD7D28ABB099967DD--
Re: Meadowbrook- was Re: City Budget, Nov. 2000
I was surprised to read a suggestion about selling Meadowbrook. I really like golfing at Meadowbrook Golf Course! It's a beautiful course, and my kids and I have taken golf lessons there for very affordable prices. So when people say that the taxpayers don't derive benefits, I have to disagree. Most folks can't afford to shell out $40,000 to join a private club like Minikahda, so if they like to golf, they golf at municipal owned courses (Hiawatha, Theodore Wirth or Meadowbrook in Minneapolis; Fred Richards or Braemar in Edina) or county owned courses. I think these municipal courses are a wonderful thing, comparable to lakes, parks and public swimming pools. Am I missing something? Catherine Shreves 13th Ward Carol Becker wrote: 1) Meadowbrook Golf Course is owned by the Park and Recreation Board, not the City of Minneapolis, purchased in the 1930's. 2) When looked at several years ago, the land value was about $20 million. This is valuing it for development, not for sale as a golf course. 3) Taxpayers do not subsizide the golf courses, but neither do they derive any appreciable benefits from the ownership of the asset. This was the point of my original post. 4) This was an issue Don Fraser pursued during his tenure. Carol Becker Longfellow - Original Message - From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Sent: Wednesday, November 01, 2000 3:28 PM Subject: Meadowbrook- was Re: City Budget, Nov. 2000 A list member writes me regarding my suggestion that the City sell Meadowbrook Golfcourse: who do we sell meadowbrook to? in one piece or in parcels? would it remain a public golf course? do we care? do you golf? got any friends who golf? at meadowbrook? I'm not even certain the City of Mpls. owns Meadowbrook Golf Course... it was referenced awhile back on mpls-issues. Assuming the City of Mpls. does own the Course, my point is all that real estate (a significant real asset) is being held by the City (Mpls. taxpayers) and there is little-to-no return being realized on it. The course isn't even located within the City, and I don't think Mpls. taxpayers should be subsidizing golfers on a course in St. Louis Park; while Mpls.' elected officials are responsible for growing deficits and reduced public services; all while city residents' are experiencing rising property taxes. Why should taxpayers subsidize golfers any more than stadium owners? I don't care who it is sold to. It is located in St. Louis Park and borders Hopkins and possibly Edina. I doubt any municipality receives any tax revenue from the property and I'd be surprised if it is even self-sustaining (let alone profitable) from operations. Seems that public parkland, a parkway along Minnehaha Creek, and some mixed-use affordable/market-rate housing would be an attractive, revenue-producing alternative for St. Louis Park? And, I'm sure the reduced fertilizer runnoff into the Creek will result in a lower BOD and improved water quality. Such potential projects would offer a nice balance to all the development on the east side of Hwy 100 along Excelsior Blvd., while adding to St. Louis Parks tax base! What is the market value of the Meadowbrook acreage? You don't know until you put it on the market-- and that doesn't mean making a nice sweet-heart arrangement to transfer the property to St. Louis Park at sub-standard value, at a loss to Mpls. taxpayers. M. Hohmann 13th Ward
Re: Flyers and Kiosks
Some of us like rock bands, new age spiritual events, and neighborhood garage sales. We live here too. We pay taxes too. NRP events and community meetings are important, but so are the many other ways that people in a city gather together with others and keep themselves entertained. If we had more kiosks instead of less, you might be able to find the poster listing your important community meeting. As far as responsibility for cleanup, it would be interesting to find how this works in other cities that already have a large number of kiosks. I can try to find out how Madison approaches this. Rosalind Nelson Bancroft From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Flyers and Kiosks Message-ID: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Regarding flyers and kiosks: The Lyn-Lake Association has had two kiosks on either side of Lyndale Avenue just south of Lake Street for several years. Part of their original purpose was for posting monthly Lyn-Lake arts calendars for public use. They ended up being big-time graffiti magnets and coated many layers deep with flyers, stickers, and posters for rock bands, New Age spiritual events, and neighborhood garage sales. I don't believe I've ever seen a single NRP event or important community meeting posted on them once. And if more such kiosks were erected, whose responsibility would it be to keep them cleaned up? Valerie Powers Tenth Ward
RE: Redoing the Park Board
Steve deserves credit for taking this on, and in spite of my desire not to ruin anyone's apple pie, I want to keep pushing it. Do this in two steps: First: Merge the Park and Library Boards with the City Council. By putting all decision making under one body before we attack the issue of what should/can be coordinated, we eliminate the turf wars that have sabotaged these discussions in the past. Then, the one more powerful decision- making body can attack the issue of what functions can and should be merged. It's possible that this joint group will decide that there are no efficiencies in merging specific functions, although I find that unlikely. But no matter what comes through the taxpayers know there is one group that makes the call and has the incentive to deliver the services as efficiently and inexpensively as possible. I wrote in an earlier post that I also believe this new more powerful single board would also make it far more likely that we could address two long term city needs that have been languishing: improved city ball fields and a new library. And I think that's just the start. R.T. Rybak East Harriet
Nader and the list
I can't believe Annie Young. She and Cam Gordon and Holle Brian have virtually turned this list into a Nader bulletin board and now she is complaining when Myron Orfield and Catherine Shreeve post anti-Nader messages. It is ridiculous to argue that multiple - and breathless - announcements about every Nader meeting and rally that attracts three people are relevent to Minneapolis, but Myron's thoughtful analysis is not. Either eliminate all discussion of the Presidential race or make it apply equally to everyone. Allan Spear
Re: Streets, traffic neighborhood boundaries
blnelson writes: "I believe the greater good for the greater number is the ethic we should follow re the use of roads. Too bad if you had the illusion of a quiet country lane meandering past your home. You only have that guarantee if you buy on a parkway. Every city needs major collectors and arterials spaced frequently through the city for many reasons, but basically for mobility and quick emergency response times." I do live on West River Parkway, and while it looks like a quiet country lane meandering past my home, many times during the day the traffic is so steady (and fast) that it is difficult to get onto the street (either in my car or on foot -- to cross the parkway to get to the walking paths). Since I-94 was first under construction a few years, and since W. River Parkway was completed to downtown, and since the meters have been turned off, traffic volumes on the parkway continue to build and build. So buying on a parkway doesn't offer any guarantees either. Otherwise I agree with the need for arterial streets...it actually protects other streets. But when push comes to shove, drivers are going to take the streets with the least resistance, that will give them the quickest route to their destinations. I think arterial streets accomplish what blnelson states: the greatest good for the greatest number. Stella Townsend Cooper (??soon to be Seward??)
Re: Nader and the list
Very well said and it is about time someone did. All of those political thingies belong on either mn-politics-discuss or mn-politics-announce, I am surprised the mple-issues list meister permits it when earlier this year one knowledgeable guy was kicked off for raising global warming issue. I can't believe Annie Young. She and Cam Gordon and Holle Brian have virtually turned this list into a Nader bulletin board and now she is complaining when Myron Orfield and Catherine Shreeve post anti-Nader messages. It is ridiculous to argue that multiple - and breathless - announcements about every Nader meeting and rally that attracts three people are relevent to Minneapolis, but Myron's thoughtful analysis is not. Either eliminate all discussion of the Presidential race or make it apply equally to everyone. Allan Spear Jack Ferman Minneapolis, MN [EMAIL PROTECTED]
Re: City Council 2001 -
I have also heard that Park and Rec commissioner Dean Zimmermann may be thinking over a run in the Six Ward In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Sorry if I am being redundant. Here are some more names that I have become aware of... Interestingly, there seems to be a lot of angst and discontent within the populist in the direction the city is going and many seem to be clamoring for a new direction. I love democracy!!! Cheers! Darren Pierson Brian Hanninen (ward 2) - lawyer Cathy Teenbroeke (ward 6) - gay, affordable housing activist Dean Kallenbach (ward 6) - gay, ? Juan Linares (ward 6) - hispanic, community organizer Michael Guest (ward 9) - DFL, Green Party, Progressive MN Scott Benson (ward 11) - gay, ROAR, lawyer 5th CD chair -- is in for sure Tom Streitz (ward 11) - legal aid lawyer, ROAR, neighborhood school issues Bridget Reilly (ward 12) - county worker Neil Ritchie (ward 10) - former candidate Doug Kress (ward 10) - way to grow ED Greg Abbot (ward 13) - lawyer, former City DFL chair From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: City Council 2001 - an office-space odyssey Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 19:11:58 -0600 Other names: 6TH WARD Jonathan Palmer, SSCO Chair Jim Graham, Master Plan guy, Ventura Village Annie Young??? (Just a rumor, she can confirm or deny) Connie Sheppard Ward 6 - Ventura Village YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. _ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. In peace and cooperation, Cam Gordon 914 Franklin Terrace Mpls. MN 55406-1101 612 296-0579, 332-6210, 339-2452 Seward Neighborhood, Ward 2 = "Significant, enduring change will require an institutionalized shift of power from corporations and government to ordinary Americans." - RALPH NADER www.jimn.org/gpm/gpm.html (MN Green Party) www.mngreens.org www.votenader.org
Re: City Council 2001 -
Karen Forbes also said, on this issue, that Brian Herron wants to be a county commissioner. Maybe, but he wouldn't jump on Peter McLaughlin to get there. McLaughlin's doing a more than respectable job as commissioner though I am somewhat disappointed that he didn't challenge Grams for the senate seat. Walter Gutzmer, one of the foks highly involved in the Central hoo-hah, has muttered that he'll run against Herron as has David Piehl, another prominent figure in the Central hoo-hah. Wizard Marks, Central Cameron A. Gordon wrote: I have also heard that Park and Rec commissioner Dean Zimmermann may be thinking over a run in the Six Ward In message [EMAIL PROTECTED] writes: Sorry if I am being redundant. Here are some more names that I have become aware of... Interestingly, there seems to be a lot of angst and discontent within the populist in the direction the city is going and many seem to be clamoring for a new direction. I love democracy!!! Cheers! Darren Pierson Brian Hanninen (ward 2) - lawyer Cathy Teenbroeke (ward 6) - gay, affordable housing activist Dean Kallenbach (ward 6) - gay, ? Juan Linares (ward 6) - hispanic, community organizer Michael Guest (ward 9) - DFL, Green Party, Progressive MN Scott Benson (ward 11) - gay, ROAR, lawyer 5th CD chair -- is in for sure Tom Streitz (ward 11) - legal aid lawyer, ROAR, neighborhood school issues Bridget Reilly (ward 12) - county worker Neil Ritchie (ward 10) - former candidate Doug Kress (ward 10) - way to grow ED Greg Abbot (ward 13) - lawyer, former City DFL chair From: [EMAIL PROTECTED] Reply-To: [EMAIL PROTECTED] To: Multiple recipients of list [EMAIL PROTECTED] Subject: Re: City Council 2001 - an office-space odyssey Date: Sun, 29 Oct 2000 19:11:58 -0600 Other names: 6TH WARD Jonathan Palmer, SSCO Chair Jim Graham, Master Plan guy, Ventura Village Annie Young??? (Just a rumor, she can confirm or deny) Connie Sheppard Ward 6 - Ventura Village YOU'RE PAYING TOO MUCH FOR THE INTERNET! Juno now offers FREE Internet Access! Try it today - there's no risk! For your FREE software, visit: http://dl.www.juno.com/get/tagj. _ Get Your Private, Free E-mail from MSN Hotmail at http://www.hotmail.com. Share information about yourself, create your own public profile at http://profiles.msn.com. In peace and cooperation, Cam Gordon 914 Franklin Terrace Mpls. MN 55406-1101 612 296-0579, 332-6210, 339-2452 Seward Neighborhood, Ward 2 = "Significant, enduring change will require an institutionalized shift of power from corporations and government to ordinary Americans." - RALPH NADER www.jimn.org/gpm/gpm.html (MN Green Party) www.mngreens.org www.votenader.org
